Migrant workers and human resource development practices in the hotel sector: a case of Cyprus

Nachmias, S.ORCID: 0000-0001-7071-0997, Johnston, A. and Meade, C.,
2015.
Migrant workers and human resource development practices in the hotel sector: a case of Cyprus.
In: 16th International Conference on Human Resource Development Research and Practice across Europe, University College Cork, Cork, Republic of Ireland, 3-5 June 2015.

Abstract

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the human resource development (HRD) practices amongst migrant workers using a cross-national survey. The literature review has shown that there is a need to provide a comprehensive understanding of the significance of HRD in the hotel sector and its role in developing migrant workers skills. Moreover, hotels that have training and development opportunities tend to support their employees in training their people-to-people and other soft skills.Design/methodology/approach: This study adopted a quantitative approach using a self-administered questionnaire, employing a purposive sampling strategy to target key participants (hotel managers/supervisor/owners) across Cyprus.Findings: The findings show that most hotels only provide operational, informal level training to all their migrant workers. The key findings present a sector that currently does not plan for sustainable HRD practices and learning with casualisation being the dominant strategy to cope with changing demand for labour. Those few hotels that do have long-term HRD practices have seen an impact on their organisational performance as well as increased migrant workers skills.Practical implications: In practice, Cypriot hotels need to focus their attention on their long-term strategic goals. The development of their migrant employees may help enhance organisational performance in the long-term. However, further research is needed to explore current perceptions amongst migrant workers and how they perceive their long-term role in the industry.Originality/value: This paper contributes to the existing HRD literature since the training and development of migrant employees in Cypriot hotels have not been researched during the recession. HRD insights will enable policy makers and employers to improve current training infrastructure for migrant workers and add to the debate around the importance of HRD strategy in advancing organisational performance in such a transformational business environment.

Item Type:

Conference contribution

Alternative Title:

Foreign workers and human resource development practices in hotel sector: the case of Cyprus